I got Yoshi a couple days ago and the place I got him from was pretty horrible when it came to letting me know what stuff I was going to need for him. Luckily I have been watching plenty of YouTube videos about caring for veiled chameleons and reading as much as I can.
I spent about $200 on his enclosure that came with a few basic items. Most of them were crap inside and it ended up being a waste of money buying the bundle the way I did. That was one of the things I had learned in the videos was to just buy things individually because they are bundled with some pretty shitty quality things. The one thing I do like is that vine in there though because it bends and keeps its shape, so I was able to finagle it around the cage so he can climb all over.
Today's mission was to get him some live plants and larger crickets. I got some crickets yesterday and wasn't sure what size to get, so I got small ones and they were way too small and a lot of them ended up dying. So I went to a different pet store that has some better prices on things and hopefully some better quality crickets. The green cubes in the cricket house is a food and water block that fills them with nutrients specific for reptile health. These ones are a lot bigger than the previous batch as well, so they will be easier for Yoshi to see them and eat them.
One thing that he needed was a better light, so that he can get absorb some vitamins from the light and help his bone growth. This early time in his life he is most fragile, so I want to make sure I have everything that he needs to grow up and be happy and healthy.
I went to Home Depot and got a few live plants that are safe for chameleons. They are basically house plants that are easy for him to climb on and he can hide in them and feel safe too. Chameleons are easily stressed, so they need a lot of places for them to hide.
He seemed pretty excited to get back into his cage and explore all the new stuff in there. I left the plastic plant in there because that is one of his favorite places to hide and he drinks the water that collects on the leaves as well. One thing I learned is that they do not drink from water dishes, so the food and water dishes the first pet store told me I needed are useless.
Another thing I got for his enclosure is a reptile fogger. It basically creates a thick fog that helps keep the humidity up. I set it up right above the plastic plant so that he can have something to drink as the condensation will collect on them.
He was super curios about it after I turned it on and he sat under the fog for a while. I bet it felt so nice to him. I have the humidity in the room at 50-55%, but this will give a pretty nice humidity boost for him when he sits under it. It is also near the top of the enclosure where he basks under the heat lamps, so he can have a nice warm and humid place to hang out.
I think this is going to be his favorite place to be. I put a few crickets in there with him once he got settled and he just watched them from the top. The crickets started to climb up the sides, and he snatched up a couple of them. It was nice to see him eat today because I was worried he wasn't going to eat after the stress of having his home rearranged. It has been a hectic past couple days for this little guy, but things are finally going to settle down for him and all he will have to worry about now is when he will get fresh crickets put into his cage.
Chameleons are such interesting little creatures and I think I am going to have a lot of fun photographing him and his adventures.
I think his enclosure looks a lot more like a real reptile home now. Once these plants get bigger, it is going to look a lot more full.
Thanks for taking the time to check out the latest in Yoshi's life. He is going to be growing like crazy over the next couple months and should start to get some new colors soon as well.
